MICK McCarthy was at a loss to explain a lifeless Wolves performance.

“We didn’t get going from the first whistle when we put the ball forward and should have got up behind and didn’t,” the manager said.

“We didn’t get near anybody and it is not like us. Why that is? Goodness knows at the moment. I can’t put my finger on it because it is just not us.

“I am not going to take anything away from them (QPR). They played well, but they were aided and abeted by poor performances from all of us, myself included.

“That was as bad as we have been. We played well last week (against Spurs) and we’ve had four excellent performances actually – until today.

“They played well but the goals that we conceded were really poor.

“I think they’ve got the impetus from getting promoted. They had a good result at Everton and played very, very well on Monday night (against Newcastle). The new players coming in have had a big impact on them and they deserved to win.

“They were better than us today.”

Wolves face Millwall in the Carling Cup in midweek before a daunting trip to Anfield next weekend.

McCarthy added: “It is probably the best fixture for us, to go to Anfield.

“There’s no pressure on the players. Today was one of those games where the pressure was on to play well, to win against a team who’d got promoted. There’s no way that we took them lightly. We watched them on Friday morning and did quite a bit on them.

“Liverpool away – there’s no pressure on us. We’re not expected to get anything, so it is a place where we can go and play.”

Neil Warnock could not hide his delight: “It was one of the most complete performances you are going to get away from home.

“We were unlucky not to score a few more, really. It was one of those games where we really moved the ball quickly.”